Sunday, June 17, 2007

In good company

My dear friend DSD came to visit for a week and visitors are always an excuse to eat good food! So, true to form, just an hour after her arrival at Pool Valley, we hit Henny's, a little cafe at Brighton Square, for a brie and chutney sandwich, and for me, a pear and almond tart, washed down with some earl grey tea. The pigeons were hovering a bit too close for comfort though...

And dsd had the seafood platter - which had some calamari, whitebait, cod, and a 'tiger prawn'. And of course, chips.

For lunch another day, we ta-powed quiche and an eclair from the always delightful Real Patisseriein Hove. We tried the chorizo, tomato and chili quiche, the smocked haddock and corn quiche, and the beetroot and sweet potato quiche. The haddock disappointed but the others didn't, especially the eclair, filled with a luscious chocolate cream. The plan to enjoy this meal outdoors was marred by the rain, but the food was still good eaten indoors.

A katsu don and a Japanese beef curry was on the menu on Saturday as the sun finally broke through the dangerously grey sky. Pompoko is probably the cheapest Japanese place in town, although, unfortunately, they do not use Japanese rice. The katsu don was still tasty though and a nice filling lunch, readying me for a walk from Brighton Pier to the Marina, to look at the undercliff walk.

From one end of Brighton Marina, there's a link to...the Undercliff walk, which leads all the way to Saltdean.

Roedean School

And back through Kemp Town to Brighton.

On Sunday, the feast was on at Bills , waiting for nearly half an hour for a table (there were seven of us as some of DSD's friends had popped down from London for the day). But it was worth it! The hazelnut meringue with banana, raspberries, passionfruit was delicious and not too sweet. Good latte too.I'll leave dsd to fill in the gaps (and lack of pictures!)

One cannot eat out all the time (especially without a regular income) so dinners were often homecooked, such as this feast of bah kut teh and eggplant with chili and garlic, washed down with some jasmine tea.

And on DSD's last night in Brighton, a homecooked feast with everyone contributing something: I made a sweet potato and potato mash, DSD stirfried courgettes and my flatmate Yukiko made a clear vegetable soup, and to top it all off, we had a roast chicken from Somerfield (just 1.64pounds!). We ended the meal with a platter of English strawberries and cherries.